A Starling Story
The acclimatizers would talk and talk but Mr. Eugene Schieffelin was making plans.
It was 1877 and there was anxiety about the rapid expansion of urban centers and the loss of agricultural land. Unnerving notions of over-population and food scarcity. Acclimatization societies formed to encourage the introduction of non-native plant and animal species, and test their ability to adapt in a new environment.
In New York, Mr. Schieffelin cast an eye to the starlings of England.
You are one of Shakespeare’s birds and your murmations are such wonderful displays of joy and industry. You belong in America!
As he presented his plan to transport them to his continent, there assembled the bravest, fiercest, most curious and wretchedest of starlings.
The starlings did not like the notion of cages, but Mr. Schieffelin assured them it would not be for long.
A trip across the sea
It was a rough passage. They are birds that love open spaces and a big sky, but this fluid and tumultuous surface was not to their liking. “We will be there soon,” he said, “and there are fields and meadows and cleared spaces for you to dig.”
In his workshop at home, the birds kept to their cages until the day of their release.
It was bitter cold the day they journeyed into Central Park to begin their adventure. They jolted around one last time on human contraptions before they would be allowed to explore with their wings.
One by one, he opened the doors of their cages and set them free.
The acclimatizers would talk and talk but Mr. Eugene Schieffelin was making plans.
It was 1877 and there was anxiety about the rapid expansion of urban centers and the loss of agricultural land. Unnerving notions of over-population and food scarcity. Acclimatization societies formed to encourage the introduction of non-native plant and animal species, and test their ability to adapt in a new environment.
In New York, Mr. Schieffelin cast an eye to the starlings of England.
As he presented his plan to transport them to his continent, there assembled the bravest, fiercest, most curious and wretchedest of starlings.
The starlings did not like the notion of cages, but Mr. Schieffelin assured them it would not be for long.
A Trip Across the Sea